I would like to clarify that the writing-down allowance (WDA) available in the special rate pool will drop from 8% to 6% for cars with emissions above 110g/km from 1/6 April 2019, only for cars purchased from 1 April 2018. So any vehicle purchased from (say) April 2015 to March 2018 would still qualify for a WDA of 8% in 2019/20 if the emissions were between 76–130g/km. I appreciate that there may be a hybrid calculation based on the accounting year, but the first port of call is presumably still the date of purchase?

Arthur Weller replies:
In the policy paper published by the government on 29 October 18 (‘Reduction of rate of special writing down allowance for capital allowances’), it was explained that the reduction from 8% to 6% applies to expenditure incurred on or after 1 April 2018 on cars with CO2 emissions of more than 110 grams per kilometre driven (the ‘special rate’).